100 Favorite Dishes: Cheese Board At The Libertine Bar

​As a countdown to the Dallas Observer's "Best of Dallas" 2010, City of Ate is serving up 100 of the favorite dishes we crave, savor and hope to scarf down again soon. These dishes are in no particular order. Some are little known, others celebrated. Some are pricey, others can be eaten on the cheap, but all are delicious to the extreme. Don't hesitate to share your own nominations in the comments. More of the dish's tasty details are after the jump.

No. 12: Cheese Board at The Libertine Bar

We felt like a chump the first time our significant other insisted on ordering a cheese board at The Libertine Bar. It sounded like just a plate of cheese, cold cuts and fruit. Our thinking was along the lines of a couple of commenters on our 100 Favorite Dishes No. 15, the Cheese And Charcuterie Plate At The Grape, who pointed out that one could buy all the stuff for the spread at a grocery store. Sure we could. We could also buy the ingredients for most of the other dishes in the Favorite Dishes countdown and try to recreate them at home while we're at it. Before we do, though, we might as well head to Homebrew Headquarters to pick up supplies to brew our own beer and ferment our own wine. Then we'd never have to go out to eat!

Anyway, as we picked at the board, experimenting with different combinations of the artisan cheeses, meats, crackers, bread, fruit and fixings, we saw the light. The shareable platter is the perfect bar food. With sweet, sour, savory, tangy, smoky, crunchy, crisp and creamy items on the board, there's something for everyone at the table, a bite to satisfy whatever craving you have at that moment, something to perfectly complement whatever wine, beer, spirit or cocktail you're sipping. And you can sit there for hours without worrying about it getting cold or soggy, unlike other appetizers and shared plates.

The Libertine's cheese board options change regularly. Last week, we ended up with manchego and smoked Gouda cheeses, prosciutto, sweet onion marmalade, tapenade and soft pear slices with crackers and a chunk of baguette, with some absolutely addictive cocoa-dusted almonds. Prosciutto, pear and manchego tasted so nice together on a cracker that we'll probably look for them at the grocery store and try to recreate it at home. That won't stop us from ordering the cheese board at the Libertine again, though.